The Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has announced its collaboration with The European Independent Film Festival (Ã‰CU) in presenting the Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking. The award will be given out during the awards ceremony to be held on May 6, 2018 in Paris, France.

Founded in 2013, the Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking is given to promising filmmakers from the Arab world, and was created in memory of the late Ahmed Khedr, producer and director at MBC's O3 Productions in Dubai, who worked in the industry for many years, including producing a film with Ã‰CU's President Scott Hillier.

The Award gives Ã‰CU the opportunity to showcase the finest home-grown creative independent films from across the region to their audience. By that, the Ã‰CU gives an opportune occasion for its audiences to watch these award-winning films that have been on the festival circuit, providing them with a better understanding of what indie filmmaking truly is.

Scott Hillier, President of the Ã‰CU, says, "We are thrilled to be presenting the Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking with the Arab Cinema Center that has been an international promotional platform for Arab cinema since 2015 providing Arab filmmakers with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world. We're so glad that the ACC will be helping us to continue supporting Arab filmmakers and can't wait to present this prize together at the Ã‰CU 2018."

Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, Co-founder of the ACC and CEO and Co-founder of MAD Solutions, talks about this step, saying, "The European Independent Film Festival is one of the most important and effective platforms for screening indie films from all over the world, and its award that was created in 2013, is a respectable initiative that honors the best Arab productions each year. That goes hand in hand with our strategy of enriching the Arab film industry, which encouraged us to collaborate with the Ã‰CU in presenting the award."

The ACC's participation in presenting the award comes as part of its strategy of promoting the Arab film industry internationally and supporting Arab filmmakers. In January 2018, the ACC selected Arab producers to attend the Rotterdam Lab, held on the sidelines of the International Film Festival Rotterdam - IFFR. Moreover, the ACC announced the selection of the two Arab film projects to take part in the MAFF - MÃ¡laga Film Festival Fund & Co-production Event, and will soon reveal the selected projects for the MÃ¡laga Work In Progress.

Both events are held on the sidelines of the MÃ¡laga Film Festival in Spain (April 13-22, 2018).Furthermore, the ACC presented the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award, in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter, to Abdulhamid Juma, Chairman of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), and Masoud Amralla Al Ali, Artistic Director of the DIFF.

Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the ACC is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The ACC's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazineto be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.

Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC's partners and their future projects.

The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.

You can find more information about the Ahmed Khedr Award for Excellence in Arab Filmmaking on the European Independent Film Festival (Ã‰CU) and Arab Cinema Center (ACC) websites.